Because I Love You
by Kperkins
Summary: Set after Ep 3x14, Dangerous Liaisons. After Elena and Damon's fight at the ball, Damon makes a decision that forces Elena to confront feelings that she'd rather leave buried. Things were so much easier when she could just hate him.


_Disclaimer: I do not own TVD or anything associated with it._

_Okay... so, here I am again with yet another new story, though this is most likely be a one-shot. When talking with the lovely __**Candy Momo**__, I told her I wanted to go back and re-work pretty much every scene possible that the writers of TVD had to get Damon and Elena together and failed to do so, lol. This is one of those scenes. If anyone has any requests for scenes they'd like rewritten, I can do that here! Feel free to review with ideas or message me personally! :) Thank you all!_

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_"No, I'm mad at you because I _love_ you!"_

_"Well, maybe that's the problem."_

Maybe that's the problem? What was I thinking? Damon confesses his love for me and the next words from my mouth are meant to hurt him for trying to protect me? What kind of person does that? What kind of person throws back a confession of love in someone's face? I know the answer to that already. A selfish person, a childish person. After everything that Damon has done for me, after the risks he's taken, after promising to bring Stefan back to me despite how much it hurts him… that's how I chose to repay him. The problem isn't that Damon loves me, which is something that I've known for a long time. The problem is that his love scares me. Maybe that's not the whole truth… The feeling I get knowing he loves me is what scares me.

I sit up in bed and grab my phone. I should be worried about Stefan, focused on the fact that he's finally showing some hint of emotion after all this time. Last night was the first time in a long time that I saw a glimpse of who he used to be tucked behind his eyes. Yet, the only voice I heard in my head all night was Damon's, telling me he loved me and, then, that he understood, he cared too much, anger and pain lacing every word. His look of betrayal is still burned into my retinas. I sigh, deciding at the last second which brother I'm going to call first.

Damon answers on the second ring.

"What?"

His voice stirs something in me but I push it back like I always do.

"Hey, I called you 10 times last night." Actually, it was 11, but who's counting? "We need to talk."

"Sorry, I've been busy."

The coolness in his voice cuts at me and I'm reminded of why he's so mad.

"Damon…" What else can I possibly say besides I'm sorry, which is something I'd rather say to his face. "Last night… I—"

"It's fine, Elena." He cuts me off, detached as he always is when he gets hurt. "I'm over it."

The line goes dead and I look down at my phone, sighing. I need to see him. Not only to apologize, but to tell him what I never got the chance to last night: Ester has linked all her children together and plans to kill them, including Klaus. So, I freshen up and start towards the boarding house, nervous to see Damon after everything that's happened. As soon as the door opens, though, my nervousness is seared away by another feeling.

Jealousy burns through me when I come face to face with a shirtless Damon and Rebekah, who is still wearing her dress from last night and has massive bed head. Rebekah smiles with satisfaction and struts past me, leaving Damon and I alone. I swallow, trying to fight back tears and the anger that threaten to overwhelm me. I push past him and walk into the living room. When I turn around to berate him, though, he's gone. I'm about to go in search of him when he reappears, buttoning up his black shirt.

"Did you stop drinking vervain?" I accuse, praying that there's no way in hell he'd sleep with her otherwise.

He scoffs. "What, you think she had to compel me?"

Yes, because the alternative is too much for me to handle. Images of them together flash before my eyes and I think I'm going to be sick. Damon's smugness only adds to my rage as he pours himself a bourbon. I clench my jaw and try to keep in mind that he was most likely—hopefully—acting out of anger and not out of actual desire.

"So, is this how it's going to be? This is how you're lashing out at me for last night?"

He turns to me with a look of disbelief. "Maybe, for once, something I did had nothing to do with you." He takes a swig of bourbon. "And why do you even _care_, Elena?"

"Damon… I didn't mean what I said last night."

He ignores me and takes a step toward me. "That doesn't answer my question. _Why do you even care? _Is it because your _friend_ slept with someone that tried to kill you? Or is it another reason entirely?"

I take a breath, searching for a way out of this conversation. I can't answer that right now. I can't be here with him. I don't know why I thought that talking to him would fix anything when looking into his ice blue eyes only confuses me further. I turn to walk to the door and he flashes to stand in front of me.

"Answer me, Elena. Why does it even matter who I sleep with? Have you ever asked yourself that?"

I stand glued to the spot, unable to speak. Of course I've thought about it. How could I not? But I can't do that… I can't be that girl that trades one brother for another, I can't be Katherine Pierce. Damon's face transforms into the same sneer he wore last night.

"That's what I thought."

I bite my lip, running my eyes over Damon's face in a way I haven't in a while. For so long, I've not allowed myself to appreciate his beauty for fear of what it would make me do. My fear was justified, because as soon as I let down my guard even for a second, the wall I've built crashes into ruin and I close the small distance between us, pressing my lips to his.

Whatever he was expecting from me, it wasn't this, and he's still for half a second before he's kissing me back. The last kiss we shared was different, it was almost chaste. It was amazing, don't get me wrong, but this kiss… it's intense and unrestrained and everything that Damon is poured into one action. His hands pull me to him, one on the back of my head, the other on my waist and I savor the feeling of his lips on mine, of my hands tangling in his hair, of his body pressed against me. The only thing my conscious mind can wonder is why the hell it took me so long to do this.

I pull away, gasping for breath and still wanting more, but I'm halted by the look of heartbreak staring back at me from the foyer.

"Stefan."

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